USA, PA: Whiskers Brewing intends to launch as Newville’s first brewery in March

A few years ago, Dean Yaukey received a brewing kit from his wife for Christmas. Next month, they intend to open Whiskers Brewing, Newville’s first brewery, The Sentinel reported on February 1.

Whiskers Brewing, at 9 S. High St. in Newville, is a pet-themed brewery that Yaukey hopes to open after March 1, although the official date is still to be determined.

Due to the small capacity compared to larger breweries, Yaukey said Whiskers Brewing might be referred to as a microbrewery or a nanobrewery.

According to Newville Borough Manager Fred Potzer, the opening of the brewery is a direct result of Newville’s new status as a wet municipality, which means the sale of alcohol is permitted in the borough.

Borough residents voted 151-51 during the May primary to allow alcohol to be sold, ending its run as a dry borough.

“Newville has been dry, a dry town since 1939 and in May (2021) they had a vote that they ended up going wet,” Yaukey said.

Potzer said Yaukey’s business will be the first in Newville to sell alcohol since May’s referendum.

“As soon as the referendum passed, Dean made his application to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board,” Potzer said. “He first came in, met with myself and our council president, Scott Penner, opened up a dialogue, told us what he had in mind, and of course we were very supportive of it, and as a result of that he went for it with his application to the LCB.

“The dry status of the town changed, LCB looked at his application and said ‘you’re fine.’ He was approved and inspected last Friday.”

Potzer said Yaukey passed his inspections and also made extensive renovations to the building.

“I think people who go in there and remember it as Jody Gilbert’s craft store, and at one time it was Lisa’s floral shop, will see a really different building,” Potzer said.

Yaukey prefers to keep the details about the interior of Whiskers Brewing under wraps until he’s able to open, but visitors can expect to see a space that pays homage to the bulldog community and lots of pet-related decorations in the two-story building.

Though pets won’t be allowed inside, there will be a pet-friendly outdoor patio for use during the warmer months. The sign hanging above the entrance out front even features the Yaukey family’s two pet bulldogs. According to Yaukey, coming up with a name for his brewery was a relatively simple process.

“We were trying to come up with something that we thought would be a little different for the area, in being a little more pet friendly,” he said. “Of course we have bulldogs and we thought they would make a great logo or trademark for the business, and kind of we meshed together with the bulldogs and pet friendly and came up with whiskers. It wasn’t much more complicated than that.”

The pet theme can also be seen in the drinks Whiskers Brewing will serve, including the Bulldog Blonde Ale, which Yaukey described as “an easy drinking beer for even those who normally don’t drink craft beer.”

The tap system at Whiskers allows for 12 craft beers plus cask ale, which Yaukey said isn’t a common option at other breweries. Although it’s typically served at room temperature, the cask ale at Whiskers Brewing will be served chilled like its other beer options.

“We’re hoping to start off with a blonde ale, Irish red ale, lager, IPA, brown ale and a porter,” Yaukey said. “A stout will be soon after those.”

Yaukey’s wife, Katie, said they’ll also sell liquor from distilleries in Pennsylvania.

Dean Yaukey said Whiskers Brewing will serve wine, and it will feature what he calls guest beers, which are beers from other breweries that have been manufactured in Pennsylvania.

“One of the objectives in the beers that we’re brewing is to make the beers very drinkable,” he said. “Sometimes breweries can get a little on the hop side and not everybody will enjoy a very hoppy beer. We’ll have those, but we’ll still have what we consider to be very drinkable beers.”

Whiskers Brewing will also be using some of its drinks to donate to charities.

“We are going to offer flights, which are four 4-ounce sample sizes of our beers,” he said. “One flight is called the Dalmatian flight. One dollar of the price automatically goes to the Newville fire department. The Rescue Dog flight, $1 of the price goes to Speranza [Animal Rescue].”

The brewery will feature a limited food menu divided into appetizers and meals, or what the menu labels “nibbling” and “eating.” Yaukey described the menu as “simple,” focusing more on the brewery’s drink selection.

Yaukey said one part of the research process that helped him learn how to go about opening a brewery involved traveling to different areas with his wife to try a variety of breweries. The two even went to Colorado for training.

“We trained with Tom Hennessy of Colorado Boy Brewing for a week,” he said. “The training included everything involved in brewing, as well as running a restaurant. The time spent was truly amazing and rewarding.”

Yaukey hopes that Whiskers Brewing will bring more people to town.

“Every surrounding township is still dry, so now Newville Borough is kind of like the center of the wheel, and we just have a feeling that all those surrounding townships will come to Newville,” he said.

He hopes the brewery will host events like live music or trivia nights sometime in the future.

Potzer said the borough is happy to see Yaukey open up shop.

“He’s a first-class guy, great guy to deal with, outgoing personality, so he’s perfect for the business and he’s perfect for a small community like Newville,” Potzer said.

02 February, 2022